Which is better: elite program at a so-so school or elite school with a so-so program?

MiddleburyDad2
Sun, 05 Mar 2017 22:44:56 +0000

@yikesyikesyikes , yes, indeed it is. I wish when kids posted these questions that people would be clear about their level of expertise. Maybe it’s the lawyer in me … I don’t give advice on areas outside my focus even when I’m confident I know the answer.

but I think it’s hard to sell the idea that you’re an expert in financial aid, large schools, small schools, engineering tracks, med. school admissions tracks, iBank tracks, management tracks, law school admissions tracks, etc.

even @Hanna and the handful of other TRULY expert opinions about admissions-related or other actual college information, there’s a limit to what they can know about how all this translates out there in the real world. I notice posters in that group, in general, tend to be more circumspect in their comments when the subject wanders too far from their area. seeing it, generally understanding it and passing on generalized information is one thing, as long as you’re clear about it. I think it’s dangerous and irresponsible to pass on advice as an expert unless you really have the experience to back it up.

iBanking is particularly tricky. as you know, it really depends on the bank, and all of them, as a group, operate differently than many other professional firms.

law, I can tell you definitively, is a prestige-focused profession. there are law firms that will not interview you if you hail from a school outside the top 10, absent some special circumstance. so for that kid, yeah, you tell him/her, go to the highest ranked law school you can get into unless you want to have limited choices. rightly or wrongly, it actually does matter. you’re not going to work for Cravath if you graduated from law school at the University of Montana. it’s just not going to happen.